News briefs 2/19/18

| 2/19/18 2:30am

Grand Valley State University President Thomas Haas sent out an email to all students on Friday, Feb. 16, in which he addressed the university's continued efforts to combat sexual assault on campus.

In the email, Haas wrote, "I have committed to ongoing communication with you regarding our efforts to ensure our campus remains a safe and healthy environment for all students, faculty, and staff—free from sexual- or gender-based harassment or violence of any kind."

Haas also wrote that GVSU is conducting a search for a full-time victim advocate. The full message can be found at http://bit.ly/2ByH4mx.

Author Daryl Davis to give lecture about healing racial tension

Daryl Davis, author of the “Klan-Destine Relationships” and the documentary “Accidental Courtesy,” will be visiting Grand Valley State University on Tuesday, Feb. 20, to give a lecture on his encounters with members of the Ku Klux Klan and how to heal racial tensions. In his lecture, Davis will demonstrate the need for successful relationship skills in our diverse society.

The lecture will be held the Kirkhof Center Grand River Room at 1 p.m, and it is LIB 100- and 201-approved.

Human rights movie ‘Denial’ to be shown in Kirkhof Center

Grand Valley State University will host a “Human Rights and Pizza Night" on Thursday, Feb. 22, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The movie scheduled to play is “Denial,” where writer and historian Deborah Lipstadt battles to prove that the Holocaust actually happened after David Irving, a Holocaust denier, sues her.

The movie will be shown in the Kirkhof Center, Room 2263, and is LIB 100- and 201-approved.

Public lecture to be given today on classical references in editorial cartoons

A guest professor from Monmouth, Illinois, will speak today on cultural issues in editorial cartoons. Thomas J. Sienkewicz will discuss the many ways in which classical figures from Rome—including politicians like Julius Caesar and mythological figures like Atlas—are used in modern political cartoons to make a point or promote an opinion.

The event is being sponsored by the departments of classics, visual and media arts, history and political science. Sienkewicz’s lecture, titled “Roman Emperors and Classical Myths in 21st-Century Editorial Cartoons Around the World," will be held Monday, Feb. 19, at 1 p.m. in the Kirkhof Center Pere Marquette Room.

Hauenstein Center hosting author H.W. Brands

The Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies at Grand Valley State University will be hosting noted author H.W. Brands for a discussion titled "The Golden Age of the Senate" on Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. The event is taking place at the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids.

Brands will be speaking on a trio of 19th-century senators. For the full article, visit www.lanthorn.com.